Container opener



April 5- p. F. SAMPSON ET AL 1,996,551

CONTAINER OiENE-R Filed June 20, 1953 IINVENTOS Patented Apr. 2, 1935.

CONTAINER OPENER Dewitt F. Sampson, Elmhurst, IlL, and John M.

Hothersall, Brooklyn, N. Y., assignors to American Can Company, NewYork, N. Y a corporation of New Jersey Application June 20, 1933, SerialNo. 676,750

3 Claims.

This invention relates in general to container opening devices and moreparticularly to a punch opener for producing a'substantial pouringopening in containers having projecting end seams or joints, the whilealso venting said containers through said opener.

The principal object of the invention is the provision of a containeropener having an enlarged, hollow or open cutting head, which at onestroke or turning movement cuts and vents a filled container and quicklyproduces a substantial and complete pouring opening in a wall of acontainer, through which the contents, be they fluid or granular, may bereadily dispensed.

Another important object of the invention is to provide a containeropening punch or cutter adapted to work on the lever principle and whichemploys a projection of a container, for example, the end seam, as afulcrum or pivot point about which the cutter may be rocked into openingposition in a single arcuate movement.

Another important object of the invention is the provision of such arocker punch whose operating parts are all adapted to be formed out of asingle piece of steel or other suitable material in a few simpleoperations, and which, because of its simplicity of construction, can beproduced inexpensively and automatically with a view to supplying thepublic with an efiicient opening tool at small cost.

Still another important object of the invention is the provision of suchan opener, which, because of its enlarged, hollow or open cutter headconstruction, lends itself exceptionally well to, and solves a realproblem in, the quick opening and venting of containers filled witheflfervescent liquids such as beer,.where a quick and adequate openingand venting will prevent ebullition and spilling of the contents.

Numerous other objects and advantages of the invention will beapparentas it is betterunderstood from the following description, which,taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, discloses a preferredembodiment thereof. 1

Referring to the drawing:

Figure 1 is a perspectiveview of the opener of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1, showing de tails otconstruction from.a. diflerent angle, with parts of the handle broken away;

Fig. 3 is an elevational view or. the opener and a container top, withparts broken away and in section, showing the opener plvotallypositioned upon an end seam ready to start the cut= ting operation;

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3,, showing the opener in an initialstage of the cutting operation;

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4, showing the opener in finishedcutting position; and

Fig. 6 is a partial top plan view of a container showing the openingproduced by the cutter 1 punch of the present invention.

To illustrate a preferred embodiment of the invention, the drawing showsa punch opener formed from a single plate of tool steel or othersuitable material. It comprises a body or handle part I I, ofsubstantially rectangular configuration and cross section, and of athickness and width which insures suflicient strength and weight withoutsuperfluous bulk.v I

The handle H is preferably of atlength which issIightly in excess of thewidth of the average adult person's hand and is generally defined byopposed side walls l2 and top and bottom edges l3 and Ill.

Its free end it is rounded to eliminate sharp comers which might injurethe hand of the user. Inward of this end the handle ii is provided witha circular aperture it, which permits the cutter punch to be strung on awire or hung upon a flail.

.ward, upward, forwardand downward along a substantially ellipticalline, to form a container seam engaging hook l1 and an elliptical,container seam receiving recess l8. This recess may be dimensioned to bejust large enough to receive and engage a container seam or containerprojection or, preferably, it may be made a little larger, asillustrated in Figs. 3, 4 and 5, to accommodate seams of varyingdimensions.

At a line of bend l9 (Figs. 1 and 2) the metal of the handle H mergesinto a rear wall 2|, which forms part of the hollow cutter or punch headreferred to. The rear wall 2| extends outwardly at substantially rightangles to the side walls I2 of the handle ll, and'at a line of bend 23the rear wall 2! merges into a side wall 24, which convergestowards anapex 25, where the metal is bent at an acute angle to form another side.wall 26, which corresponds in shape and dimension to the side wall 24.I

The wall 28 diverges outwardly from the apex 25-to a line or bend 21,where it merges into a second rear wall 28, which corresponds in shape'sponds to the line of bend i9, and thence the metal in the form of arectangular plate 30 extends rearwardly a short distance parallel withand engaging the side wall I 2 of the handle II, and is secured to thelatterin any suitable manner, as

, by spot welding.

The rear walls 2| and 28 and the side walls 24 and 26 converging uponthe apex 25 constitute generally an enlarged and hollow cutter or punchhead, having substantially V-shaped openingsat top and bottom.

It will be noted by reference to Figs. 1 and 2, that the metal of theside walls 24 and 26 is cut away at the top along curved linesconverging upon the apex 25 to form curved top edges 3|. The side walls24 and 26 are also cut away at the bottom and sharpened, along curvedlines which converge at the apex 25 in a sharp cutter point 32, andprovide curved cut edges 33.

To exemplify a preferred application of the opener, Figs. 3 to 6illustrate a well known type of container which may be opened by meansof the cutter punch. This container, comprises a body 34 and a top end35 secured to the body in any suitable manner, as by a double seam 36,which constitutes the top rim or joint of the container. The rim mayassume any other suitable form, as long as it projects beyond thehorizontal plane of the top end 35 and beyond the cylindrical plane ofthe body 34, so as to provide a fulcrum for the pivot recess I81, and anengaging projection or purchase for the hook H.

To open a container, the opener is grasped by its handle Ii andpositioned, as shown in Fig. 3, with the edge of the recess l8 engagingthe top edge of the container rim or seam 36, and with the sharpe edgeof the hook I! engaging the bottom edge of the seam. The cutter punch isthen rocked upward and forward pivotally about the container rim, boththe handle and the punch head describing an arcuate path of movement,the former an upward movement and the latter a downward movement, thewhile the sharp cutter point 32 of the cutter head begins the cutting orpunching operation (Fig. 4). Continued rocking movement brings thecurved cut edges 33 into operation and brings the punch head to thefinished cutting position shown in Fig. 5, where. the cut portion 3'! ofthe container wall is shown deflected inwardly, outwardly and upwardlyunder the cutting and pressure force of the curved punch head.

It will be noted by reference to Fig. 4, that while the cutting orpunching operation is in progress, a triangular opening 38, formed bythe converging walls 24 and 23 at the apex 25 of the cutterhead, is leftbetween the cut portion 31 and the apex of the cutter head. This openingtogether with the V-shaped open top of the cutter head proyide a gasescape channel which is desirable in the case/of cans filled with beeror other contents which form gases.

As shown in Fig. 6, a pouring opening 33, of a shape corresponding tothe shape of the punch head, as defined by the out edges 33, is thusreadily produced by one quick arcuate rocking movement of the cutterpunch. Obviously, the size of the opening may be controlled by the sizeof the punch head, and the walls constituting the latter can be made ofany desired dimensions within apparent limits.

It is thought that the invention and many of its attendant advantageswill be understood from the'foregoing description, and it will beapparent that various changes may be made in the form, construction andarrangement of the parts without departing from the spirit and scope ofthe invention or sacrificing all of its material advantages, the formhereinbefore described being merely a preferred embodiment thereof.

- We claim:

1. A device for producing a pouring opening in an end wall of a liquidcontainer having projecting end seams, comprising in combination, aonepiece metal plate, one end of said plate being formed into a handle,the other end being formed into an angular hollow cutter head, saidplate having a curved wall defining a container seam receiving recessbetween said handle and said head for pivotally moving about said seamthe while said head is rocked into cutting position, fulcrum meanscooperating with said recess to engage under said seam, said headsevering a portion of the end wall of the container to open it andpushing said severed portion against the side wall of the containerassaid handle is rocked from aposition below said end wall to a positionthereabove.

2. A device for producing a pouring opening in an end wall of a liquidcontainer having projecting end seams, comprising in combination, aone-piece metal plate, one end of said plate being formed into a handle,the other end being bent and folded into an angular hollow cutter head,said plate having a curved container seam engaging wall defining arecess, and a seam engaging hook between said handle and said head andadapted to pivot on a said seam when the head is rocked by movement ofsaid handle into container end wall cutting position.

3. A device for producing a pouring opening in a wall of a containerhaving projecting end seams, comprising in combination, a metal plate,one end of said plate being formed into a handle and the other endhaving-a cutter head rigid therewith, said head having side walls of awidth substantially greater than the thickness of said plate andconverging toward the front of the head and diverging toward its rear,said side walls having their lower edges formed into curved cuttingedges, container'seam receiving means, said handle and head andreceiving means cooperating to produce a pouring opening in a wall ofsaid container when said device is rocked over a said seam.

- DEWI'I'I F. SAMPSON.

' JOHN M. HOTHERSAIL.

